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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.01.16 17:02l 59 Lines 2705 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 82972_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 26
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 160126/1501Z 82972@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1788
Australia Day
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11
British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales,
effectively founding Australia. After overcoming a period of
hardship, the fledgling colony began to celebrate the anniversary
of this date with great fanfare.
Australia, once known as New South Wales, was originally planned
as a penal colony. In October 1786, the British government
appointed Arthur Phillip captain of the HMS Sirius, and
commissioned him to establish an agricultural work camp there for
British convicts. With little idea of what he could expect from
the mysterious and distant land, Phillip had great difficulty
assembling the fleet that was to make the journey. His requests
for more experienced farmers to assist the penal colony were
repeatedly denied, and he was both poorly funded and outfitted.
Nonetheless, accompanied by a small contingent of Marines and
other officers, Phillip led his 1,000-strong party, of whom more
than 700 were convicts, around Africa to the eastern side of
Australia. In all, the voyage lasted eight months, claiming the
deaths of some 30 men.
The first years of settlement were nearly disastrous. Cursed with
poor soil, an unfamiliar climate and workers who were ignorant of
farming, Phillip had great difficulty keeping the men alive. The
colony was on the verge of outright starvation for several years,
and the marines sent to keep order were not up to the task.
Phillip, who proved to be a tough but fair-minded leader,
persevered by appointing convicts to positions of responsibility
and oversight. Floggings and hangings were commonplace, but so
was egalitarianism. As Phillip said before leaving England: "In a
new country there will be no slavery and hence no slaves."
Though Phillip returned to England in 1792, the colony became
prosperous by the turn of the 19th century. Feeling a new sense
of patriotism, the men began to rally around January 26 as their
founding day. Historian Manning Clarke noted that in 1808 the men
observed the "anniversary of the foundation of the colony" with
"drinking and merriment."
Finally, in 1818, January 26 became an official holiday, marking
the 30th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. And, as
Australia became a sovereign nation, it became the national
holiday known as Australia Day. Today, Australia Day serves both
as a day of celebration for the founding of the white British
settlement, and as a day of mourning for the Aborigines who were
slowly dispossessed of their land as white colonization spread
across the continent.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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